Some experiments were conducted in connection with the gold-nanoparticle production in an effort to produce a more accurate model for determining the gold-nanoparticle synthesis with a modified ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP). As previous experi- ments with gold nanoparticles yielded nanoparticles of various shapes (spherical, triangular, cylindrical, etc.), a focus on synthesizing only spherical nanoparticles is underway, as a mixture of different shapes is difficult to characterize and utilize. One of the factors for the particle formation is droplet evaporation. In an attempt to produce the optimum conditions for droplet evaporation with the solvent diffusion and precipitation, a separate furnace and a separate reaction-gas inlet were used. This modification separates the evaporation stage from the reaction stage, compared to the standard USP set-up. Using relatively low temperatures, from 60 °C up to 140 °C, for the evaporation stage provides for more time and better conditions for the diffusion of the solvent into the center of a droplet and a higher probability of forming a spherical particle.
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